Earth Day

After a spectacular All Species Parade held last Earth Day, filled with giant puppets, masks and costumes, organizers of this year‘s event are hoping to achieve the same heights this Sunday, April 21 at 1 p.m. in Traverse City. The parade celebrates the animals, birds, fish and plants of the natural world, with kids and parents encouraged to dress up as their favorite lifeform. Last year‘s parade featured several hundred marchers with some papier mache puppets towering 10 feet above the pavement. Artist Penny Krebiehl has been a guiding force in helping to create the puppets and masks through a series of workshops. This year‘s event begins with paraders gathering at 12:30 p.m. at F&M Park (Washington and Railroad streets), with the parade beginning at 1 p.m. down Washington to a rally at the Civic Center. The rally will include music, entertainment, speakers, information tables and refreshments For more information contact The Neahtawanta Center at 231 223-7315 or 800 220-1415. Web: www.nrec.org/eday02 In other Earth Day news, volunteers are being sought to help clean up the Leelanau and TART trails on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails, Inc. will provide refreshments for volunteers. Meet at the Leelanau trailhead at Cherry Bend Rd. or at the TART Trail at 4 Mile Rd. in TC if you‘d like to help, and bring your own gloves and trash bags to save expenses. Contact the TART Trails office at 941-4300 for info.

Speaker urges peace for Palestinians

Palestinian human rights advocate Hanan Elmasu will come to Traverse City as part of a nationwide speaking tour to educate Americans about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what must be done to end the cycle of violence in the region, and actions that U.S. citizens can take to help promote a lasting and just peace in the Middle East. Elmasu and Ted Lewis, Human Rights Program Director at Global Exchange and Coordinator of the Palestine Campaign, will speak on Thursday, April 25, 7 pm., at Immaculate Conception Church, Centennial Hall, 720 2nd Street, Traverse City. An Arabic potluck dinner will precede the program at 6 pm. In conjunction with Elmasu and Lewis visit, local people have arranged to support a Detroit area effort to send relief to the besieged Palestinians in the cities and towns occupied by the Israeli army. Donations of clean, new or gently used clothing and outerwear, school supplies and backpacks, shoes, blankets and nonperishable first aid supplies can be made at Oryana Food Coop, 260 E. 10th Street, Traverse City through April 19. In recent weeks, violence and desperation have worsened in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The 2.7 million Palestinians living under occupationfrustrated with a frozen peace process  staged an uprising that has moved from street demonstrations to escalating lethal violence between Israeli forces and the Palestinians. Israeli demands that the Palestinian Authorities eliminate violence are undermined by the Israeli invasions of Palestinian territories, continued occupation, massive expansion of Israeli settlements and destruction of Palestinian security and civil infrastructure. As the cyclical violence worsens, the Bush Administration has failed to use its clout (in the form of more than $3 billion in annual aid) to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, which world opinion overwhelmingly identifies as the root of the problem, Elmasu said. Meanwhile, the U.S. media continues to portray the Palestinians as the aggressors in the conflict, generally failing to cite the conditions of the occupation and the current devastation of the entire Palestinian population at the hands of the Israeli army.

BRIEFS

All hands on deck

The paperback edition of Lake Ann author Doug Stanton‘s book, “In Harm‘s Way,“ will hit bookshelves May 7 with a planned release of 1 million copies. Published by St. Martin‘s Press, the book spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list, with 200,000 hardcover copies sold. Hollywood is interested: Warner Brothers renewed its option on the book in January and director Barry Levinson (Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man, Bandits and Diner), is writing the script for the movie. Stanton will sign copies of the book May 18th, 1-3 p.m., at Horizon Books in TC.

A nice rack of lamb...

Have wolves been a problem with your livestock lately? A State program will compensate you for your dead cattle. There have been 12 confirmed cattle killings attributed to wolves in the Upper Peninsula since 1989. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee notes that there‘s a compensation fund available through the Michigan Department of Agriculture which has drawn attention lately because of concerns raised at recent Upper Peninsula town meetings about wolf depredation. “U.P. residents have expressed concerns, both about personal experiences with wolf attacks against livestock, and about news reports of such attacks,“ Stupak said. The congressman since mid-January has met with U.P. residents at town hall meetings in Houghton, Ironwood, Kingsford, L‘Anse, Marquette, Newberry, Ontonagon and St. Ignace. Because there may be disagreement over the market value of a young ornewborn animal, Stupak said, the balance of compensation can be paid fromprivate donations through the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn. The grey wolf, which is still listed as an endangered species, is being reevaluated at both the state and federal level, and may be relisted at the federal level as a “threatened“ species as early as this summer. At present, there are no known wolves roaming the lower peninsula.